President Trump unlikely to block DuPont Dow merger: Breen

Boston, Massachusetts –  Donald Trump is unlikely to block the DuPont Dow merger when he becomes president, said DuPont chief executive Ed Breen at a meeting here.

According to the Reuters news agency Breen was talking at the Boston College Chief Executives Club.

Trump was critical of other large mergers during the recent presidential campaign, Breen told Reuters: "I don't think it has any impact. We're very far down the road." This is because US Justice Department officials reviewing the merger are career employees, Breen suggested.

Breen said he does not expect Trump's rhetoric would make the president-elect's administration less likely to approve the $130 billion Dow-DuPont merger agreement, reached a year ago.

He told the news agency: "It doesn't overly worry me... and I don't think it is overly bothering the business community,"

Executives and dealmakers are looking for signs of whether the incoming Trump administration will take a traditional Republican approach to major mergers and treat them with a lighter touch.

Trump alternatively could follow through on populist statements he made during the campaign, such as a threat to block AT&T's planned purchase of Time Warner.